TCC Podcast #93: From Gossip Columnist to Copywriter with Erica Strauss

Copywriter Erica Strauss joins Kira and Rob for the 93rd episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. Erica is doing something a little different in her business than what most copywriters are doing... working with a direct sales company to add another revenue stream to her personal business. So far it's working, and we wanted to know more. We also talked about: •  how Erica started her copywriting career at age 10 •  what she learned about copywriting from working as a gossip columnist •  why she decided NOT to finish her master’s degree •  how Erica makes retainers work for her andher clients •  what she typically charges for one of her projects •  how she started copy coaching •  the challenges of growing a copywriting business quickly •  what she did to overcome the burnout that comes with so much work •  how her business is shifting to include other income streams •  what to consider if you’re interested in network marketing •  how Erica connects with clients and gets to know their voice and stories •  what she’s doing on Facebook Live and her tips for doing it well •  why relationships are so important as copywriters •  where her business is going from here •  why she loves rap and EDM—and how it makes her a better write We also talked about her processes and tips for writing taglines and naming products—and why she offers this service to her clients. And as we often do, we asked her about the future of copywriting. To hear what Erica had to share, click the play button below or scroll down for a full transcript.   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Lisa Vanderpump Marie Forleo EricaLeeXO.com Erica on Facebook Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group Intro: Content (for now) Outro: Gravity   Full Transcript: Kira:   The Copywriter Club Podcastis sponsored by Airstory, the writing platform for professional writers who want to get more done in half the time. Learn more at Airstory.co/club. Rob:   What if you could hang out with seriously talented copywriters and other experts, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes and their habits, then steal an idea or two to inspire your own work? That’s what Kira and I do every week at the Copywriter Club Podcast. Kira:   You’re invited to join the club for episode 93 as we chat with copywriter and communications strategists Erica Lee Strauss about her stint as a gossip columnist. Helping entrepreneurs communicate their stories, burning out and finding a purpose, copy coaching and her love of EDM. Welcome Erica. Rob:   Hey Erica. Erica:Hi guys. Thanks for having me. Rob:   We’re stocked to have you. Kira:   Yeah, so Erica, let’s start with your story, how did you end up as a copywriter? Erica:Oh my gosh you guys. Okay, so honestly I was one of those annoying little kids who always knew what they wanted to do. I was sending out manuscripts and God knows what they were like. I was sending out manuscripts at age 10. Actually started an online magazine back in the days of like AOL and CompuServe, and kind of had my first mailing list back then. Had a little mailing list of like, I guess it wasn’t so little, it was 2000 people. I had a little online magazine and just always knew that I wanted to write or like wanted to do something. I thought it would be with editorial basically, I thought I would do something in magazines. I actually wrote my first article for a magazine at age 10, because somebody at Girls Life Magazine got wind of the fact that I was this 10 year old having this, writing this online magazine. They contacted me to write an article for their reader’s issue, and as soon as I saw my name in print, I was completely hooked. I just knew that that was going to be the thing, like I definitely was going to go down the magazine journalism path. I did. I went to college for that, and it was kind of during that weird time where everyone wasn’t sure really what was going on. Like Facebook was just becoming popular, social media was becoming a thing and people were like print is dying and like newspapers are going to die and magazines are going to die and this whole sorts of things. I kind of switched gears and I decided, well I’ll just be an English major, and I’ll write poetry, because that’s clearly a better career path. I made the switch and ended up graduating with a degree in English, but after that, I still was like okay, so I really did, my whole life I’d imagined I would do something with magazines, so I ended up just applying for different jobs through Craigslist. I found this job that was a work at home job as a celebrity gossip reporter. It was like some $15 an hour, nothing crazy at all, but I got to work from home and it was all online. I ended up doing that. That was like my first big girl job, but because it wasn’t really like paying enough, I started looking in other areas. Like this is cool, I’m getting paid from this one company. How else can I expand this and maybe make more money? This was like when E-lance, I think maybe it had just popped up, and so yeah. I got on E-lance and started finding a couple other clients, and so I was juggling a couple of clients. I didn’t really even understand what copywriting was at that point, I just knew that I could write and I knew the editorial side of things. I took on a job like a side gig is like a fashion blogger and copywriter, because they wanted me to do their product descriptions and their email blasts. I kind of like was earning as I learned about it and granted none of that really paid that much either. I eventually ended up taking a job in-house at a beauty brand and that’s where I really kind of learned what copy actually was. Started doing my research into it and kind of went from there. Rob:   I want to back up and talk a little bit more about being a gossip columnist. I have this sense, that to do that really well, you need to be at the club scene, and you need to be hanging out with the paparazzi.  How did you do it working from home? What did that involved and how did it make you a better writer? Erica:You would think that, that’s what it was, but actually what a lot of these, even like TMZ and stuff. What we would do particularly at my website is, TMZ would actually go out there and get the story. Then we would re-report. I would have Google alerts for like, I had specific niches, so the Kardashians was one of mine and it was probably one of my favorites, because they had a lot going on and they always do. Keeping up with them is hard. I would have those Google alerts and then literally just have to re-report that story within like a certain time frame. It was very like, yeah, I could work from home, but I was kind of, I had to be like on my phone. I had to be like in the know, so it wasn’t as cool as like going out and talking with celebrities and stuff. Although, I did have a couple celebrities re-tweet my stories. Sometimes they weren’t happy about them, but I think the thing about it and how it made me a better writer, which is a great question, is that, because I was writing about the same people and kind of the same things over and over, I had to find different ways to describe things and different ways to drop people. In like, how do you make people care about, I don’t know, Kim Kardashian’s hair for like five days in a row, if that’s like what people are reporting about? How do you do that? It forced me to get really creative and it forced me to make things that maybe like weren’t necessarily that interesting, sound super, super interesting. Which I think, not that, that’s what we do as copywriters, but we want to make sure that things are intriguing to people, right? We want to entertain them in a way, and so I think it really taught me how to entertain people basically. Kira:   You mentioned it, so who re-tweeted your gossip? Erica:Lisa Vanderpump. Kira:   Oh nice. Erica:Yeah, she’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Kira:   Very cool. Erica:Yeah. Kira:   What was the best gossip that you ever reported that you were proud of today? Erica:I don’t know if I’m proud of any of it, to be honest.  Some of it was fun, and you know, part of the reason I started looking for these other gigs, besides just the fact that it wasn’t like paying my rent and doing all that is that, I did feel like I needed some deeper meaning in what I was doing. Right, I’m like, this is cool and this is fun. It was fine for fresh out of college girl, but then I was like, there’s got to be more. If I’m going to do something, I have to really believe in it, so I think that’s kind of where the disconnect was for me. Rob:   That makes a lot of sense. I noticed on your website you talk about how you also have half of a Master’s degree. I love that you say that, because I think so many copywriters get hung up on credentials and needing to get the Master’s Degree or finishing things. You’re sort of out there saying, “You know what, I started it and it wasn’t the right direction and a retooled.” Will you talk a little bit about that, about not needing credentials and how you’ve gone forward using your skill set and just developing your career serendipitously in some ways? Erica:Yeah. Yeah, half a Master’s degree, so that’s when I was in-house actually at the beauty brand. I was working full-time and decided I’ve just started working full-time. I’m like why don’t I start a master’s degree too, so I don’t know what I was thinking first of all. Second of all, it became this thing where I felt like I was really learning so much more, doing the actual work not only in-house, but I still did dabble with like freelance clients on the side. I’m like, I’m learning so much more doing my own independent research granted, it gave me a very solid foundation. There were some things I probably never would have done.